Create an outline that will organize your proposal effectively for your readers.

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For more on outlining, see Chapter 11.

Whether you have rough notes or a complete draft, making an outline of what you have written can help you organize your essay effectively for your audience. Compare the possible outlines below to see how you might organize the essay depending on whether your readers agree that a serious problem exists and are open to your solution—or not.

If you are writing primarily for readers who acknowledge that the problem exists and are open to your solution:
  1. Introduce the problem, concluding with a thesis statement asserting your solution.
  2. Demonstrate the problem’s seriousness: Frame the problem in a way that prepares readers for the solution.
  3. Describe the proposed solution: Show what could be done to implement it.
  4. Refute objections.
  5. Conclude: Urge action on your solution.
 If you are writing primarily for readers who do not recognize the problem or are likely to prefer alternative solutions:
  1. Reframe the problem: Identify common ground, and acknowledge alternative ways readers might see the problem.
  2. Concede strengths, but emphasize the weaknesses of alternative solution(s) that readers might prefer.
  3. Describe the proposed solution: Give reasons and provide evidence to demonstrate that it is preferable to the alternative(s).
  4. Refute objections.
  5. Conclude: Reiterate shared values.
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Whatever organizational strategy you adopt, do not hesitate to change your outline as necessary while drafting and revising. For instance, you might find it more effective to hold back on presenting your solution until you have discussed unacceptable alternatives. The purpose of an outline is to identify the basic components of your proposal and to help you organize it effectively, not to lock you into a particular structure.